1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a process for imparting to, or enhancing in, a foodstuff a Fontina-cheese flavor. The invention also relates to cheese flavor compositions suitable to be used in such a process.
2. Description of Prior Art
According to the invention, by "Fontina"-cheese should be understood the firm cheese originating from Italy, mainly from the Aosta valley, which is exclusively prepared from cow's milk. This cheese has a straw-yellow, elastic dough with only few holes. Its taste is characteristically sweet.
Up to now it has not yet been possible to impart to foodstuffs a Fontina-flavor, i.e. smell and taste, without the addition of Fontina cheese. In the literature nothing has been disclosed so far about Fontina-cheese flavor compositions. A few publications deal with the fatty acid composition of Fontina-cheese (cf. Atti Della Societa Italiana Delle Scienze Veterinarie, Vol. XXIV, 1970, pp. 372-379, and Dairy Science Abstracts, Vol. 27, No. 2, pp. 86-87, Abstr. 610).
While the first-mentioned work reports only in general on the occurrence of the various fatty acids in Fontina, the last-mentioned prior publication already indicates that acetic acid and isovaleric acid are among the main constituents of the free fatty acids in Fontina cheese. This knowledge, however, did not make it possible to prepare a flavoring composition which is suitable for imparting a Fontina-cheese flavor, after incorporation into foodstuffs.
It has now surprisingly been found that the typical Fontina-cheese flavor is essentially obtained by the addition of a flavoring composition comprising effective amounts of .beta.-phenylpropionic acid and alkanoic acids, having one side chain consisting of a methyl group, throughout this specification and the appended claims indicated as "non-terminal mono-methyl-substituted alkanoic acids", having 4 to 6 carbon atoms, said substituted alkanoic acids comprising at least 50%, preferably 55 to 70%, of iso-valeric acid.
Other taste activating flavor components can additionally be incorporated in the foodstuffs, but only in such amounts that they cannot dominate the taste. Thus it was found that the Fontina-cheese flavor of a foodstuff can be rounded off by the additional incorporation of flavor additives known for cheeses, such as fatty acids other than the above defined, alcohols, aldehydes, alkanones, esters, diacetyl, methional, indole and amino acids.
Up to now, .beta.-phenylpropionic acid has remained unknown in connection with Fontina-cheese. However, the use of .beta.-phenylpropionic acid to impart to foodstuffs another kind of flavor, viz. a Cheddar cheese flavor is known. For instance in Chemicals Used in Food Processing, Publication 1274 of the National Academy of Sciences -- National Research Council, Washington D.C. (1965), pages 179 and 180, .beta.-phenylpropionic acid is mentioned as suitable for use in a cheese flavor without specifying the kind of cheese-flavor. According to this publication it can also be incorporated in foodstuffs other than cheese.
According to the Dutch patent application No. 7204792 (page 11) .beta.-phenylpropionic acid, iso-butyric acid and iso-valeric acid are used as components of a cheddar-cheese flavor to round off said flavor.